Potato chip products are popular snack food items that have wide consumer appeal. It is considered that the combination of potato, oil and salt flavors, and the crunchy texture creates the preferred potato chip taste sensation. However, consumers have also expressed concerns for their total dietary intake of fats and oils and view potato chips, with a typical fat content of between thirty and forty weight percent, as other than a health food. In response to this, potato chip manufacturers have sought to produce a potato chip which retains the flavor and texture characteristics of conventional potato chips, but with a significantly reduced fat content.
One example of low fat potato chip processing includes copending and coassigned patent application, U.S. Ser. No. 305,256, entitled "Low Fat Potato Chip Process." This disclosure describes an optimized process for producing a low fat potato chip wherein potato slices are par-fried at a temperature between 149.degree. C. and 182.degree. C. (300.degree. to 360.degree. F.) to a moisture content of from about four weight percent to about ten weight percent; the par-fried slices are exposed to superheated steam maintained at between 138.degree. C. and 171.degree. C. (280.degree. and 340.degree. F.) and velocities of from 488 meters/minute (1,600 ft/min.) to 671 meters/minute (2,200 ft/min.) for from 60 to 120 seconds to remove surface fat from the par-fried slices; and then exposing the de-fatted; par-fried slices to additional dehydrating to finish-drying the slices to less than about two weight percent moisture to yield low fat potato chips.
Other processes for decreasing the fat content of potato chips include British Patent Specification 1,519,049 entitled "Improvements in or Relating to Methods and Apparatus for the Preparation of Deep-Fried Sliced Potatoes, So-called Potato Crisps" which teaches a process that includes the use of superheated steam to strip surface fat from fried potato chips; U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,786, entitled "Method of Preparing Low Oil Fried Potato Chips" that discloses the use of hot air blasts to reduce the oil content of potato slices while also finish-drying the slices to a desired moisture content to produce chips; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,625 entitled "Process for Preparing Low Oil Potato Chips" which describes par-frying potato slices, deoiling the slices in the presence of saturated steam blasts, and drying the deoiled slices with superheated steam, all in the absence of oxygen, to yield low oil potato chips.
Additional proposals for processing low oil potato chips are known to those familiar with this art. Each of these disclosures teach processing variables that must be controlled in order to yield low fat products. Unfortunately, when the low fat goal is reached there is also a corresponding reduction in one or more of the organoleptic properties of the product such as flavor, texture, appearance and color. It is also noteworthy that these low oil processing disclosures do not teach processing sliced whole potatoes wherein the potato slice has surfaces that are other than smooth, flat surfaces.
Separate and aside from low fat potato chip processing is technology devoted to slicing whole potatoes wherein the slice surface is other than flat. Examples of different slice surfaces include "wavy cuts" which have smooth regularly undulating surfaces; and "V cuts" which have sharp angular ridges and valleys. Potato chips with these slice surfaces are collectively referred to as corrugated potato chips. Examples of various corrugated chips can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,769,715 to Stahmer entitled "Sliced Corrugated Potato Products," U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,739 to Ryan entitled "Potato Product with Opposite Corrugations of Different Frequencies;" and U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,684 to Penrose, entitled "Reduction in Phase-Locking of Corrugated Chips and Products Thereof."
Although various potato chip structures are known, the field of low oil potato chip technology has concentrated solely on controlling processing variables. With this convergent approach, there still remains a void in the area of low oil potato chips as the ability does not now exist to consistently produce a low fat potato chip that is rated at parity or above to conventional potato chips by consumers.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a low fat potato chip having high consumer acceptability relative to other low fat potato chips.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a low fat potato chip having consumer acceptability that is about at parity with conventionally prepared potato chips.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide low fat potato chips having novel constructions that enhance the organoleptic properties of the potato chip.
These and other objects of the present invention will become evident to one skilled in the art from the below description of the invention and the appended claims.